AN: Trying to get these up as soon as possible, but I don't write ahead and then beg for reviews for you guys to get another chappy. I know authors that do that and it annoys the crap outta me. Lol. Anyways, sorry it's taken so long. I had a heck of a time with my second semester of college, but I kept my 3.5 GPA! (Hurray for me!) Thanks for sticking with me through the giant gap of no posts. It means a lot.

P.S. If anything doesn't line up just right with the way Richelle wrote it, I'm sorry. I haven't read them for a while. For instance, I can't remember if Oksana and Mark know anything about restoring the Strigoi. I don't think they do, but for my purposes, they don't. Just FYI.

So, yeah. I'll get back to what you really came here for: THE STORY!

RPOV

I woke up groggily, my vision fuzzy for a short minute before it cleared and let me take in my surroundings. I had no idea where I was, and it put me on edge. I touched my fingers to my neck, remembering the bite I had received last night in my fighting. After that, everything went blank. I could be in a Strigoi den for all I knew, and I didn't like it one bit. I took in the furniture around me, deciding that if I were captured, there were far too many possible weapons that I could use. I didn't know if that were a plus or not. My brain said it would help in a fight, but my instincts said that there were two options. One: the Strigoi were careless, which didn't seem very likely. Or two: They were very young Strigoi, which didn't make it much better. Young Strigoi may be easier to take down in a fight because of lack of experience, but they also tended to make hastier decisions, letting their emotions take control of their actions.

I grabbed the lamp of the side table, yanking the plug out of the wall. Tip-toeing to the door, I pressed my ear against the door, listening for any sounds from my captors. I heard voices, two men and a woman coming from what sounded like downstairs. Next came footsteps and voices seemed to be coming closer. I pressed myself against the wall to the side of the door, waiting for my moment. They were coming to kill me, that was the most likely option. I held my breath as the handle of the doorknob turned, clutching my makeshift weapon to my breast.

One of the men was the first to walk in, and I jumped at my chance. I swung the lamp hard, clipping the back of my captors skull. He went down hard, dropping to his hands and knees, pressing one hand

to his head. I shouted in triumph over him, knowing the other two would be on me in seconds. I may go down, but I would take them down with me if I could.

"Take that you damn- Adrian?" I asked, dumbfounded at what I was seeing. My victim stood slowly and faced me, grimacing at me like I was crazy. It might have been out of pain too, but I couldn't be sure. "What are you doing here?" My brain felt like mush and I couldn't figure out what was happening.

"She's just fine, Oksana!" I heard another voice from the hall call down to the first floor, a chuckle in his tone. I spun around, shocked by what I was seeing. Mark stood in the doorway, grinning widely at me. "You know," he started wistfully, "you're not supposed to attacked Moroi, Rose. Especially a Moroi who's your boyfriend." I walked over to Mark, laughing and giving him a hug. It had been a while since I had seen him and I hadn't realized that I had missed him, and Oksana, so much.

"It was a reaction," I stated, following true Rose form. I looked back to Adrian who, while still regarding me wearily, had begun to smile at us. "He'll be f-" I stopped mid-sentence, replaying what Mark had just said. I squared my shoulders and took an angry step toward Adrian as it sank in. He backed away from, undoubtedly seeing the patented Hathaway Death Glare. "He'll be dead." I amended and lunged for him, swinging the lamp again. He jumped out of my way and Mark grabbed me before I could try again.

"Rose! What's wrong with you?" Mark asked, clearly shocked by my reaction, not really knowing what had caused it to begin with. I struggled against him, wanting to rip Adrian's throat out. "Calm down already and just explain you are trying to attack him." Mark demanded, spinning me around in his arms. I struggled only one more before giving in.

"He's not my boyfriend. I'm gonna kill him for saying that he is." I said bluntly before spinning around and lunging out of his arms at Adrian. I missed him with the lamp again, proving just how off I was today, and I made the mistake of meeting his gaze. I immediately felt myself becoming more calm and I dropped the lamp to the floor, shattering the bulb on impact.

"Little Dhampir." I found myself frozen, stuck staring at him. "Calm down. I didn't tell him I was your boyfriend. I just woke up myself and told them we needed to wake you before I tried explaining anything as to why we are here. He just assumed." Adrian spoke quickly, trying to get the words out before I could break through his compulsion. You can believe I was trying too. He released me, and I staggered, the release a shock after trying so hard to get through. I steadied myself and sighed.

"Sorry." I mumbled and Adrian took it for what it was. I think Mark was still apprehensive and on guard in case I snapped again, but I knew myself better than he did. I was fine now. It had been just a little left over darkness leaking out at an inopportune time. I hated that aspect of Lissa and I's relationship, but it was getting less frequent now that the bond had broken. There were still tiny bits left over inside me, but soon I would be empty of it all and I couldn't wait for that day. I glanced at Mark and gestured to the lamp. "I'll pay for that. I'm sorry." With that, I walked out the door of the room I had woken up in and walked down the stairs, trying to get away from the awkward situation I had just made for myself.

"Rose! How are you feeling?" Oksana met me at the bottom and I tried to put on a smile for her, but it was a hard task. Not only was I still feeling the aftereffects of the darkness, but I knew part of my foul mood had to do with what had happened just a day or so ago with the damned Russian bastard I loved. Oksana smiled kindly at me and gazed wearily up the stairs, a questioning look upon her face. "What happened up there?" She asked, and Mark and Adrian came to a stop behind me, presumably trying to keep some distance from me at the moment, not that I blamed them. "Sounded like you were fighting the Strigoi again." She chuckled nervously at that, just like any other Moroi when speaking of those monsters that had once been something not too unlike them.

I laughed, trying to play down what had happened, "I got a bit confused; hit Adrian with a lamp. No biggie." I shrugged, walking past her to sit down on one of the couches. I noticed the one I picked looked like it was stained with fresh blood, but I told myself I was seeing things.

"Speak for yourself." Adrian mumbled, grimacing again and massaging the back of his head a bit. "I don't care if you just woke up. You hit like a momma bear protecting a cub." He walked away at that, wandering into the kitchen. I could take three guesses as to what he was going to go look for, and the first two guesses wouldn't count.

"I really am sorry about that." I half shouted, hoping he would hear me. I got comfortable on the couch as they came around to face me. I felt as if I were at the Spanish inquisition with them staring at me like that. I looked to Oksana and Mark, hoping to explain myself and my actions. "I thought I'd been taken. I had no idea where I was, and I certainly don't remember ending up at your guys' place. Thanks, by the way," I looked to Oksana with my gratitude, "you must have healed me, am I right?" She nodded kindly and I sighed. "You shouldn't have. The darkness-"

"Don't worry about it." Mark interrupted, and I quieted myself. I didn't know why, but for some reason, with the way I had acted so far, I felt like a child amongst adults. "You know we have our ways of handling all that. Now, what I do want to know is," I braced myself, knowing the reprimand was coming now, "why the hell you were out in the pitch black dark of Russia without so much as another guardian out there with you to protect your ass. Don't you realize how incredibly stupid that was?" Mark stared at me, and I was sure he was wondering if I had gone off my rocker. I looked away from him, embarrassed by what kind of situation I had put myself and Adrian in.

"I know. A lot has happened recently." I tried to explain though I couldn't seem to make the words come out right. No matter how I said it, it sounded like I really was stupid for doing what I had. "I wasn't thinking right.." I thought for a moment and said the next thing that occurred to me. "Hey, at least no one died, right?" I tried to flash my smile at him then, but Mark ruined the happiness I had at this revelation.

"No, no one died. But they could have. You almost did." My mind flashed back to that last moment, the one with me standing on the road in the arms of a monster. I felt sick at the thought, remembering with revulsion that I had enjoyed the endorphins that had flowed through my veins. I hadn't even fought after he had sank his fangs into me. I just clung to him, letting him suck the life out of me as I rode my high. I hated myself for it, but I knew deep down that I had had no control over myself in that moment. I had to let it go.

"I know that." I whispered, looking away again. "Like I said, I wasn't thinking clearly." I stood then, walking into the kitchen like I wanted something to drink. I'll admit, I really was thirsty, but in truth I just wanted to get away from their staring eyes. I had let everyone down. I didn't really feel justified in my actions, though I tried to act as if I had planned everything to happen the way it had. I was just as he had said; stupid. I should have known we would be out at night and just put off leaving for Baia until morning. Adrian would have paid for a hotel if I had asked. But I hadn't. I hadn't even considered it as an option.

"Rose?" I heard Oksana's tentative voice come from behind me. I had stopped in the middle of their kitchen, feeling even more lost than ever when I realized I hadn't even asked where they kept the glasses. I tried to fight back my tears as everything started to hit me again. The lost and broken feeling the clung to my insides returned, and I found it hard to breathe. I turned to look at her and her face was so gentle I had to fight to stay where I was and not run into her arms, crying out for comfort. "What's happened to you, hun? You're... different. Not our Rose that I remember." I could tell she was struggling for her words as well, probably thrown off by how I was acting. I guess it could come as a shock. I usually seemed like a very strong person, or so I'd been told. But here I was, fighting tears all because I didn't know where to find the cups. Figures I'd break over something stupid.

I sat in one of the chairs at the table, putting my head in my hands. I let the tears begin to fall; I couldn't hold the back anymore. Out of the corner of my blurred eye, I saw Mark walk up behind Oksana, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I'm sorry Rose. I didn't mean to upset you." His voice was still a bit hard, but I knew he truly meant it. I knew Mark was a good guy; he overreacted because he cared.

"That's not really it," I said, and as I spoke, it shocked me how much my voice shook. I hated getting like this, especially in front of people. "It's about D-D-Dimitri." I stuttered as I said his name, feeling my heart shatter into even smaller specks of dust inside my chest. I really felt as if I wouldn't be able to make it past him, though I knew I would try. It wasn't that I wanted to; I just didn't know how not to. We Hathaway girls don't quit just because a man takes off without us. We just dust ourselves off and keep on living. If I'd ever learned a thing from my mother, it was that. I just wished I knew how to get started. I felt so defeated.

"Rose. I hoped you wouldn't come back here to start chasing after him again." Mark somehow kept the scolding tone out of his voice, but I could tell it was hard for him. He was a guardian after all, and guardians were taught to think clearly and logically. Neither of which could be described as what I had done. "You know it's not safe and-"

"That's not why we're here." I looked up at the sound of Adrian's voice, shocked by how much I had lost it. I hadn't even noticed him when I walked in here. He was in the far corner of the kitchen, a bottle of something hard and wet in his hand. He looked sorrowful when he met my eyes, making me start to wipe at mine, knowing they were the cause of his pain. Even if I couldn't love him back, I still cared for him and didn't want to cause him any more pain. "We didn't come here to chase him around. He'd have to be a Strigoi for that, which he isn't so..." He started rambling and I hoped it was the liquor. I knew he had problems with spirit, and it worried me whenever he acted that way.

Shock flew across Mark's face and he focused on me. "He's not a Strigoi? You've killed him, then?" He almost seemed hopeful at that and it saddened me. Even through they are Strigoi, it always makes me hurt to kill them. It just seems like such a waste of life, even a life that is now tainted by evil and blood. I remembered having a conversation with Dimitri that was similar to my thoughts now. I pushed them away, forcing myself not to hurt anymore. Or at least for now.

"No." I stated, blunt in my tone. My tears had dried mostly, and now I forced the guardian in me to take over. Stop hurting. Get back on track. Just keep fighting.I could hear my stronger half chanting these orders to my weaker half. I tried my hardest to follow them. Mark looked at me, now more confused than I thought he should be, making me continue on and explain what had happened. "He's not a Strigoi. He's a Dhamphir."

Mark shook his head adamantly, but I could almost see the wheels turning in Oksana's head as she thought this over, sitting at the chair opposite me. She didn't seem to focus on anything at all, but she didn't seem to just be spacing off either. She seemed lost in the idea of someone returning to their previous form after being a Strigoi. I could understand where she was coming from in that aspect; it had taken actually seeing it done for me to believe it could happen.

"That's not possible." Mark said, shaking his head as if to keep the idea from getting into his head. "It goes against everything we've ever been taught." He looked over at Oksana suddenly, and I knew he had heard her thoughts on the matter. "You're not actually considering this?" He seemed shocked and almost appalled that she would even think that something so ludicrous was possible.

"It might very well be possible." She responded almost a bit to curtly and I could see the evident hurt in his eyes. She turned her gaze to me, and I fought the urge to step away from her. She didn't look angry or hostile per-say, but I always hated to see that kind of determination in a Spirit user's eyes. Ninety percent of the time, it meant trouble and it was usually for me on top of it.

"But how?" Mark sputtered. I felt bad for the guy. Here I was, dropping this kind news on him. He was right, of course; it went against everything we had ever been taught about Strigoi. We grew up believing that once a person was turned, voluntarily or forcibly, that they were lost. Everything they had ever been to us was gone. But now, here I am, telling him that they stood a chance.

"It's spirit." I said, hating the deadness I heard in my voice. I took a deep breath, hoping it would lend me strength to carry on a short conversation before falling apart piece by piece again. It killed me that I had resigned myself to being broken but I honestly had no idea how else to react at this point. "Lissa figured out how to charm a stake with Spirit. It changes them back to what they were before."

A strange fire lit inside of Oksana's eyes and she suddenly seemed to need the answers to all the questions that we had been plagued with when it had all happened. "How'd she do it? Did she say if it was just like charming simple silver? Or was it more complicated? Was-" She would have continued on until she died from lack of breath, I think. But Mark layed his hand on her shoulder to quiet her.

"I'm sure she doesn't want to answer all that just now. Do you, Rose?" He looked to me then, his eyes lit with a warm caring that I desperately didn't need right now. It helped just a bit, but it also made Weak Rose want to come back out and be consoled. I had to keep her locked away for as long as possible. I still had other things I had to accomplish here in Baia. Strong Rose was the only one I could trust to get it done.

"I'd really like to go for a walk, if possible, actually," My eyes shot to the window and I sighed in relief as I took in the bright sunlight streaming in through the shades. I couldn't believe how happy it made me to be up early in the morning for a change. It would definitely shock the hell out of Dim- I stopped the thought where it stood, reminding myself to avoid anything that would chip away at my hold on myself. I got up without waiting for their reply and headed out the door. I knew what I had to do, here and now.

I just wasn't looking forward to it.

AN: SO Yeah there it is. If you can't tell, not the most fun chapter to write. Not that I didn't like hitting Adrian with a lamp. That was fun. But let me know what all y'all think about it. Good or bad!